how hard is it to become a well known photographer

[guangong]

Not that difficult to become a well known photographer unless you want to become well known for the photographs.

One of the best replies to this thread!

 

[MattKing]

Once upon a time, a person had to do something worthy to get famed for an image. Say take a photo of someone jumping out of a burning sky scraper, or capture a pivotal moment in time, say Saigon Execution.

Or perhaps a portrait of Winston Churchill:

Yousuf Karsh made great connections which permitted him to make great portraits which meant he made more connections....
He also photographed weddings ..

 

[Vaughn]

I applied for scholarships to attend Friend of Photography workshops. So based on portfolio, experience, and need, for two years in a row I was able to attend a workshop each year (the 2nd year I got my application back with "How can anyone live on $10,000 a year?!" There is a little difference between SF and Humboldt Co.) I thought it was quite a nice thing for the Friends to do, so I also lent a hand in anyway needed during the workshop -- weak mind/strong back sort of stuff. After the second year, they asked me back as a workshop assistant. Through the workshops I made connections with other photographers/photo educators, which led to shows, giving workshops, selling prints and other fun things. And I learned/still learning a lot through those connections, some now are good friends. But it is nothing I ever sat down and thought, "How do I become known?"

 

[mohmad khatab]

Well, if you have to ask that's a bit of a disqualification.

How hard is it - about the same as becoming a famous writer, a famous painter, a famous composer ...

Your work needs to be transcendent. So far above the work of the common hoi poloi that none would make the comparison.

Getting a show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York is a good start. You don't call them, they call you.

It helps if you are dead. Galleries like to promote artists who are safely dead and therefore allow the prices to escalate. Imagine Van Gogh is still alive and he proclaims "What, pay $1,000,000 for a Starry Night? That's ridiculous. Why, I'll paint you a much better one for $500."

If you want to be recognized when you are still alive you will need a good promoter.

Oh, and you need to be exceptionally lucky on top of all that.

And don't forget the competition, all out to tear you a new one.

+1

 

[gone]

It's easy to do that these days. Just make poorly exposed photos and post them on social media. Then say and do something outrageous and watch the fun. Andy Warhol's dictum that everyone in the future will be famous for 15 minutes has been reduced to something like 15 seconds.

 

[removed account4]

It's easy to do that these days. Just make poorly exposed photos and post them on social media. Then say and do something outrageous and watch the fun. Andy Warhol's dictum that everyone in the future will be famous for 15 minutes has been reduced to something like 15 seconds.

my calculations were a little off, post #55 I theorized it was 7 1/2 seconds

 

[Pieter12]

It's easy to do that these days. Just make poorly exposed photos and post them on social media. Then say and do something outrageous and watch the fun. Andy Warhol's dictum that everyone in the future will be famous for 15 minutes has been reduced to something like 15 seconds.

Actually, most posts to social media have filters applied to them to give them a look, be it high-key, cross-processed or otherwise manipulated. Those people really don't know diddly about photography and how or where the effects originated. How many "colloidian" or "Polaroid Type 55" shots have any of them ever made or even know what the hell the original is that they are emulating.

 

[Don_ih]

Actually, most posts to social media have filters applied to them to give them a look, be it high-key, cross-processed or otherwise manipulated. Those people really don't know diddly about photography and how or where the effects originated. How many "colloidian" or "Polaroid Type 55" shots have any of them ever made or even know what the hell the original is that they are emulating.

Does that actually matter when all you see when you see an image is how it looks? Someone thinks, "I can make this look cooler if I apply Orton to it." It just makes it look a certain way - it could be called "Crispy Chicken", for all that guy cares, so long as it makes the image look "cooler". The people viewing the image don't care, either.

People don't know what they're looking at. But they never did.

 

[Pieter12]

Does that actually matter when all you see when you see an image is how it looks? Someone thinks, "I can make this look cooler if I apply Orton to it." It just makes it look a certain way - it could be called "Crispy Chicken", for all that guy cares, so long as it makes the image look "cooler". The people viewing the image don't care, either.

People don't know what they're looking at. But they never did.

I was responding to the post that implied people were intentionally overexposing for the "cool" look. My point is they want the look, have no idea what they're doing. And the myth that they get lots of followers or become influencers that way is bunk.

 

[Don_ih]

I was responding to the post that implied people were intentionally overexposing for the "cool" look. My point is they want the look, have no idea what they're doing. And the myth that they get lots of followers or become influencers that way is bunk.

Fair enough.

 

[Arthurwg]

(1) Become a war photographer. Get close to the action and risk your neck. (2). Develop a Youtube following like Mr. Leica. (3) Shoot a portfolio of transgender athletes.

 

[MattKing]

Shoot and share a portfolio of something that people are currently fascinated by or interested in - you need to be quick though, because there are many out there trying to do it before you do.

 

[Pieter12]

Shoot and share a portfolio of something that people are currently fascinated by or interested in - you need to be quick though, because there are many out there trying to do it before you do.

Share with whom? You need to have a following, and that takes some effort and social media savvy. Or make something that goes viral if you're lucky.

 

[Down Under]

Am feeling somewhat nit-picky today. A few gems to be found here and there in this thread.

Just invent a whole new aesthetic, change your name to Christos Why?, hire a publicist, and sit back and let the money roll in

Being dead also helps, in this artist's case. May 2020. Fame is, well, temporal (and certainly temporary), even fleeting.

Marry a Kardashian.

Ha!! I wish I had written this.

It may be obvious to you, but how does trying get you one of those iconic war photos? Are you trying hard enough in Taos to be famous yet?

Obviously you have never been to Taos, dear boy. The place is oozing with Culture, it must be one of the most cultural/cultured places in all of North America. Everyone there is an artist. Every dog, cat, SUV, cactus bush or adobe structure has been immortalised in an exhibition. The very air reeks of creativity and talent, also if one looks at how most locals live, money. I was for some years in southwestern New Mexico in the late '60s, had I been able to financially or free from involvements at that time I would have relocated myself to Taos in two heartbeats, and I would still be there. For me it was and still is a wonderfully (adjectives/adverbs are free-flowing today) cultural place. Do go see it for yourself.

Besides figuring out why one wants to become famous, it helps to decide who is one's 'audience' that one wishes to be well-known by. I am quite famous in my family. In my county, my name is generally reconized by people who look at art in the county ("Isn't he the guy who still makes black and white photos?") Amongst carbon printers around the world, my name is well known. Largely because of timing. I took the process up early (1992) in the resurgence, explored it for a couple years before making the process my own in a semi-unique way. It helped a lot that I yak a lot on the internet and don't believe in keeping any part of the process secret to be learned only by direct transmission (workshops, etc). ....

edit -- spelling error
another edit -- sorry, it was a grammar error, not a spelling error
third edit -- incredibly, I used the word 'incredible' twice and it is not a very good word anyway.

A lovely post. Note the adverb (or adjective, I've not had my morning coffee yet so am unsure of almost everything)!! I did edit your post somewhat, my apologies for this. Your first paragraph sums it all up beautifully (note the adverb/adjective). The word 'incredible' also sums up a lot in a small statement. I recommend 'incredibly' for even greater effect.


This thread has been most enjoyable. Now it's time for my first coffee. Carry on, please, gentlemen.

 

[CMoore]

Hi guys, I am asking today how hard is it to become a famous photographer or at least a "recognizable" member on the comunity. I ask this because I have the same ambition that we all have, I want people to know my work and to look at it with interest. I know it is a silly question, but i ask this to mainly get tips, some story about one of you, ways for someone to show the world my work or even some good path choices. I think it will be a great discussion

This COULD Apply to many Publications and Photo Organizations.
At any rate, ONE Photographers path to becoming a quite well known at National Geographic and other photo outlets.
Joel Sartore

https://www.joelsartore.com/about-j...-i-become-a-national-geographic-photographer/

 

[Bikerider]

Get a lot of indifferent images published, break into the modelling scene with your by now almost famous pictures. Get to sleep with a number of well known female actors. (Or male actors depending on your preference.) Get convicted of money laundering and later die from an overdose. Leave your collection of images to an unknown charity. Wait 100 years when your work re-surfaces and sells for a fortune!

I think if you have to ask, you will get better results from herding a load of feral cats!

 

[Arthurwg]

Obviously you have never been to Taos, dear boy. The place is oozing with Culture, it must be one of the most cultural/cultured places in all of North America. Everyone there is an artist. Every dog, cat, SUV, cactus bush or adobe structure has been immortalised in an exhibition. The very air reeks of creativity and talent, also if one looks at how most locals live, money. I was for some years in southwestern New Mexico in the late '60s, had I been able to financially or free from involvements at that time I would have relocated myself to Taos in two heartbeats, and I would still be there. For me it was and still is a wonderfully (adjectives/adverbs are free-flowing today) cultural place. Do go see it for yourself.
.

More or less correct. There's even a challenging ski hill with a new hotel. Some folks are saying Taos is the new Aspen, so if you're coming get here soon.

 

[Down Under]

More or less correct. There's even a challenging ski hill with a new hotel. Some folks are saying Taos is the new Aspen, so if you're coming get here soon.

Many thanks. Maybe in my next life - what remains of this one is being devoted to project photography in southeast Asia, which will keep me busy until I shuffle off to the big darkroom in the sky. Taos belongs to my young years - I've not been back there for too many years, and I reckon my memories and ten boxes of cherished Kodachromes will see me through. It was an enchanted place in its time - I even have ONE valued slide of an afternoon of triple gins and tonics with the late Dorothy Brett, who in her time was the sort of immortal character one no longer sees now, though I've lucked into one or two among the old Chinese I meet in my Asian travels. All grist for my lenses, so to speak.

Silver City, NM was another fun place in the 1970s. When I think of the parties I was invited to at the Buckhorn up in Pinos Altos, sigh...!!

 

[removed account4]

Talent lasts through the centuries. Connections fade with the next fad.

I guess this is true .. but being famous often times has absolutely nothing to do with talent, it has to do with being at the right place at the right time which means being around the right people and being noticed.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Fame is but a fruit tree
So very unsound.
It can never flourish
‘til its stock is in the ground
So men of fame
Can never find a way
‘til time has flown
Far from their dying day

Forgotten while you’re here
Remembered for a while
A much updated ruin
From a much outdated style ...

- Nick Drake​

 

[faberryman]

Exactly what is it that you hope to achieve with fame that you are unable to achieve without fame?

 

[CMoore]

Exactly what is it that you hope to achieve with fame that you are unable to achieve without fame?

Not speaking for The OP, but...................... I assume he is wondering how you become a professional photographer, that is "Successful" and because of that are also "Well Known"
Richard Avedon
Annie Leibovitz
Steve McCurry
Don McCullin
Mary E Mark
etc etc etc

 

[Arthurwg]

I guess this is true .. but being famous often times has absolutely nothing to do with talent, it has to do with being at the right place at the right time which means being around the right people and being noticed.

Being in "the right place at the right time" is a very important talent for a photographer.

 

[Pieter12]

Being in "the right place at the right time" is a very important talent for a photographer.

And how does one go about developing such a "talent"?

 

[Alex Benjamin]

And how does one go about developing such a "talent"?

Going outside instead of wasting time going through (mostly) meaningless threads like this one would be a start.